Chapter 38: Are You Unwilling?
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Though she pursued wealth and splendor with almost pathological fervor, romantic love was part of happiness as well.
Jian Aozhu’s eyes shimmered with tears, her thoughts in turmoil. At first glance, she looked so wan and pitiful that Mei Xianghan’s heart ached at once.
After the incident at the Misty Pavilion, he had lain unconscious. When he awoke the next day and learned that he had suffered devastating injuries below the waist, he felt as though both heaven and earth had collapsed around him.
Had his mother not begged him repeatedly, he would not even have taken a sip of his medicine. He would simply have waited for death.
Then Spring Joy told him that his mother had humiliated Jian Aozhu that night.
Yet despite everything, Jian Aozhu still valued their love and loyalty enough to come secretly see him.
His despairing heart came alive once more.
Jian Aozhu approached in a daze, her gaze falling upon the swollen bandages around Mei Xianghan’s injury. She could more or less guess what lay beneath them.
If an egg had been crushed, could it still hatch into a chick?
“Young Master… how is your illness?”
Jian Aozhu quickly withdrew her impolite gaze and asked warmly after his condition.
Pain clouded Mei Xianghan’s face. He propped himself up slightly and glanced toward his groin, letting out a low groan before forcing out the faintest smile.
“Divine Physician Sun has examined me. His medical skill is superb. I need only rest for a while, and I will recover.”
That was the consistent story the entire Minister’s residence was telling outsiders.
They would conceal it for as long as they could.
They could hardly let others learn that Mei Xianghan might never be capable of intercourse again.
He was a man who intended to sit for the imperial examinations and become the top scholar.
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Jian Aozhu’s expression darkened, and she forced out a faint smile.
“Yes, Divine Physician Sun is a miracle worker. He was even able to cure such a severe case of epilepsy. A minor injury like this naturally poses no difficulty.”
It was the only way she could comfort herself.
“Aozhu, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hidden from you that I had epilep—”
Before Mei Xianghan could finish, a slender, lily-white hand thoughtfully came to rest against his lips. Jian Aozhu leaned against the bedside, her voice soft and clinging.
“Young Master, since I have already promised to spend my life with you, I will share both honor and disgrace, and stand beside you through every hardship. Otherwise, why would I have come to see you today?”
Hearing her words, Mei Xianghan clasped her cool jade fingers in both hands, overcome with emotion.
Epilepsy was a vicious disease. It was only because the Minister’s household had money to spare that he could be treated with the finest medicines and delicacies. In an ordinary family, a single seizure might well prove fatal.
From then on, Mei Xianghan would have to be carefully tended every day, and he could not be subjected to the slightest emotional shock. Any woman who married him would essentially spend her entire life caring for an invalid.
After Zhang Yan had caused such a commotion, no daughter of a prominent family in the capital would ever marry him.
That was why Jian Aozhu’s willingness to remain at his side moved him so deeply.
“Aozhu, you truly are the best. To have you in this life, Xianghan has been blessed through three lifetimes.”
With such a devoted and tender woman, Mei Xianghan would never let her go—nor would he allow her to marry that short-lived Zhang Yan.
From the moment Zhang Yan had kicked him, he had been marked for death. That grudge could be settled later.
For now, Mei Xianghan was gravely wounded, at the very moment when he would inspire the most pity and sympathy. If he proposed marriage now, Jian Aozhu certainly would not refuse.
He reached out and gently stroked her fair cheek.
“Aozhu, Spring Joy told me that my mother struck you that night. Did she also take back the dragon-pearl hairpin?”
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It would have been better not to mention it. A flash of viciousness crossed Jian Aozhu’s eyes.
But she quickly pressed her lips together and said, “Your mother was simply desperate to protect her son. I was the one who cast aside all sense of propriety. I was already promised in marriage, yet I still came out to meet another man in secret.”
With a single sentence, she absolved Madam Jin of all blame and took every fault upon herself.
How could Mei Xianghan not ache for such a gentle, magnanimous woman?
Suppressing his pain, he struggled upright and placed both hands upon her jade-white arms.
“Aozhu, don’t say that. In truth, I am the one who deserves to die. I was the one who pursued you first. You were merely dragged into this by me.”
“Young Master…”
Taking advantage of the moment, Jian Aozhu buried her face in Mei Xianghan’s arms and sobbed as though she had been holding back her tears for a very long time.
“Aozhu, I want us to marry as soon as possible. Are you willing?”
Jian Aozhu did not raise her head for a long while. Only when Mei Xianghan gently lifted her chin did she finally look at her in alarm.
“Aozhu, you’re unwilling?”
“Young Master… I would follow you through mountains of blades and seas of fire. I would do anything for you. It’s only…”
“Only what?”